The room was silent and still.

The ecstasy that Aerith had so powerfully felt only moments before was replace with another emotion. She felt . . . dirty. Embarassed. Guilty. How was she any different than the whores on Wall Market? Nothing separated her from them. Zack pulled his wet fingers out of her and caught a glimpse of her conflicted expression before she turned away to face her vanity. It was then that her eyes fell on the photo that Tseng has brought to her house. She had near forgotten the visit in the heat of the moment, and now that life was back to normal she couldn't help but feel an immense weight fall back onto her.

"Hey . . ." Zack touched her shoulder, "Did I do something wrong?"

Aerith pulled her legs to her chest, burying her face into her knees. " . . . No." came her hesitant and muffled reply.

Zack felt his heart sink. He thought she had wanted him to touch her. No – she had told him to keep going he remembered. Why was she acting so sad and angry? Zack started to feel defensive. He didn't do anything wrong.

Suddenly she was on her feet, pulling her underwear up. Zack watched as she rubbed her eyes, eventually cupping her face into her hands. She rubbed her temples and bit her lip. She began to slowly pace.

Zack watched her, unsure, for the first time in a while, of what to do. He straightened and edged to the end of the bed, reaching his arms out to her. "Aerith I'm sorry I . . . I thought you wanted this."

"I don't know what I want." she replied quietly, still holding her face in her hands. Zack reached for her, but she brushed him off.

"Aerith . . ."

"Stop acting like you care about me!" She yelled suddenly, spinning towards him. Zack retracted, totally caught off guard by her outburst.

"What are you talking about?" He cried, rising from the small bed with a wince. "There's never a moment when I'm not thinking about you! How can you even say that?"

Aerith was silent. She didn't want to talk about what Tseng had said; She didn't want to believe it, but there was no way she could just brush this off. She hesitated, before slowly crossing her arms over her chest. She looked down, her long hair hiding her face.

"I feel like . . . I just feel like our playing with me sometimes. Like – I don't know – like I'm just some girl. That was okay with me before . . . at least that's what I told myself . . . but I can't let this go on anymore. I . . . I care about you too much and I'm just going to get hurt." She sighed, shakily, before running a hand through her hair.

She had been choosing to ignore all of the bad things, only focussing on the goodness that was Zack. She had been so uncharacteristically clouded by lust and loneliness that she refused to see any of the red flags. She only wanted to hear his voice, and feel him next to her, and now that she was satiated, her mind felt empty again.

"I know about . . ." Aerith stopped herself before continuing. Once she told Zack that she knew, there was no going back. She would eventually have to tell him about her past, and she was not ready for that. She held her toungue, choosing not to mention Tsengn or Wall Market.

"You know about what . . ." Zack started slowly, his heart rate accelerating. Oh god, who told her? He didn't want to hurt her with his past.

Aerith took a deep breath. This wasn't the right time. She didn't want to know. "Nothing."

He moved to her, touching her hand softly with his own. He looked into her face, his expression sincere, his eyes begging her to understand. They both knew what she was talking about, even if Aerith only had a brief glimpse.

"You will never be just some girl to me." Zack looked down at his hand on hers and ran his thumb along the smooth of her fingers. "I don't know what you heard but . . ." He let her hand slide from his, his head still down. "I do have a past that I'm not proud of. There are so many things in my life that I wish I could change, but your one of the things in my life that actually feels right."

Aerith touched his face, and he pressed his cheek into her palm. He was so tall, so strong, so powerful, and she almost hated herself for how easily she trusted and felt protected by him. His explaination made her fears melt away. She immediately forgave him for whatever he did or did not do. She just wanted him, no matter who he really was. She didn't care.

"I was taught at a young age that sex wasn't an expression of love, it was a cure for boredom. Kids from my hometown didn't respect themselves, because they didn't care. You had sex to reproduce and to ease boredom. That was it. There was no love. So when I came to Midgar, I mindlessly fucked any girl who had the same mindset as me. I never wanted anything more than that, because I didn't know that there was anything more. But then . . ." He smiled, ever so slightly "then I met you, and you were so different."

"Why? Because I'm a virgin prude? Because no guy has ever wanted me like that?" Aerith whispered, almost defensively. It made her uncomfortable to shed light on just how different she was from Zack experience wise. She had never seen even seen a nude man before, while Zack had slept with, as far as she knew, countless women.

"God, Aerith, are you so naïve? Every guy you've ever passed by has thought about . . . you know, but you have too much respect for yourself to show interest. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. And -" He stopped short. And I love you oh god I love you so much.

Aerith, with her head so close to his chest could feel his heartbeat increase. He put his big hands on her shoulders, pushing her away slightly so that he could look her square in the eye. I love you. "Aerith . . ." I love you. "I just want you to know that . . ." I love you. "That I'll never let anything hurt you, and . . ." and I love you "and would do anything for you."

She was once again filled with want for this man. Her future flashed before her; marriage, children, old age – she could see herself going through these with Zack by her side. She could forget whatever transgressions he had done, if only she could have him. He was so perfect. She didn't care that she had only known him for a short time. There was something special about him. He represented all that scared her in this world; SOLDIER, ShinRa, fighting, and yet he made her feel so at ease. She could not imagine a world without him.

"I love you, Zack."

He was motionless for a few seconds, save a small smile creeping onto his lips. Suddenly Aerith was off the ground and in his arms. He was holding her close, too excited to even reply. Lifting her close to his face, he kissed her, short and exhuberant before pulling away, a smile still worn proudly on his face. "I love you too. Oh god, do I love you."

Aerith laughed softly, "You do?"

"So much." He replied, the smile slowly falling from his face. He looked at her lips and then back to her eyes before leaning in slowly to kiss her, his hands cradling her face. They stayed in an embrace for what seemed like forever, before finally breaking apart. Zack kept his hands in her hair touching his wet lips to the crown of her head.

"You saved me, Aerith"

She laughed and placed a hand to his ridiculously over bandaged waist, brushing off his comment. "After casting casting cure I don't think you were in any real danger.

Zack chuckled, "Yeah, probably not, but how do you say no to someone who so desperately wants to run thier hands all over your body?"

Aerith smirked, jabbing a finger into his abs. "Sorry, I can't help myself."

They kissed again, both of their mouths curved into smiles, both of them perfectly content. They stood entwined in the dark room, the solitary street light barely illuminating their bodies. Aerith's window was open, and a rare breeze slowly made its way into her room. The room was silent, save for their breathing.

"You know what I mean, right?" He murmered into her hair, "I was so lost before you."

She pressed her face into his warm, bare chest, savoring the scent of him. She nodded, bringing a hand up to rest next to her face. She closed her eyes, nuzzling into him. She hadn't realized it before, but she was exhausted.

Zack ran his hand through her hair, gently turning her face up with a finger to her chin. "Are you tired?"

"Mmm . . ." Came her muffled reply, her eyes still closed. Without hesitation he lifted her up, cradling her in his arms like a baby. Before she could even react, she was already laying in her bed. Zack was crouching near her face, tucking the blanket around her. "Do you want me to go?" He asked.

"No, please don't leave." She replied, almost wondering if he had asked just to watch her beg. She lifted the blanket to make room for him and watched as he lithely crawled over her body, barely touching her. He was laughing softly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chest pressing to her back, his forehead resting against the back of her head. He was smiling wildly.

"I've never slept with anyone before. Like, actually slept and stayed the whole night. Its really nice having someone to hold onto."

Aerith turned to face him, smiling as she pecked his lips. "I think so too."

He returned her kiss with one of his own; A drawn out, open mouth kiss, that left both of them wanting more, but neither of them wanting to initiate.

"Aerith?" He asked finally, breaking the stillness.

"Yeah?"

"About before . . . in your bed" He started, "You were so upset. If I hurt you . . ."

"Hurt me?" She reiterated, her face turning pink. "Did I . . . did I sound like it hurt?" She brushed her hair behind her ear and averted her gaze.

Zack smirked. "Not at all. Actually you seemed like you really enjoyed it."

She buried her face in his chest. "Stop, that's so embarassing!" She whispered meekly.

"Hey don't be embarassed! We're a couple now, that stuff is't supposed to bother us." Zack brushed his hand through her hair, taking time to run his thumb along the cuff of her ear. He leaned in closer to her. "Besides, just looking at you turned me on so fucking much."

"Zack!" She cried, hitting him softly in the arm.

"What?" He asked in retaliation, feigning surprise, "You were really into it, I couldn't help it. The way you just lost it was so sexy – OW!" He laughed, catching her small fist in his hand.

"At least I didn't get a boner when we were kissing at the church!" She retorted smugly.

"God, I would hope not!" Came his smart reply. She rolled her eyes, turning back around with a groan. Zack draped an arm around her waist, the other snugly under her neck. He was still so fulll of energy, but also so content with laying next to Aerith, watching her drift off into sleep.

"Aerith?"

"Mhm?"

"I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too."